Improvement in washing-machines



J. H. CRAIG.

nu. "I

Washing-Machine.

No. 218,717. Patented Aug. 19,1879. uln 1 'UNITED ST TEs PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. CRAIG, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HI RIGHT TOPHILLIP HEISEL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN .WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming .part of Letters Patent No. 218,717, dated August19, 1879; application filed November 19, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HARVEY CRAIG, of Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Washing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsection taken in the line as of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section ofone of the standards, showing one of the bearings of the upper roller;and Fig. 4 is avertical view of the self-adjusting oscillatinglevers andlower rollers.

The nature of my invention relates to that class of washing-machineswherein an intermittent forward and backward rotary motion is impartedto a series of rollers, the clothes being washed by compression betweenthe rollers, and also by agitation.

It consists, principally, in constructing the lower rollers withalternate ribs and grooves, the ribs of one roller being situatedopposite the grooves of the other roller, in combination with a beltencircling a rib of one roller and a groove of the other roller, so asto give such rollers different speeds of revolution, and to rub theclothes passing between such rollers and the upper spring-pressedroller; and, further, in the combination of such parts, the large tank,the spring-bars in such tank, and the levers pivoted to such springrbarsand carrying the lower rollers, all as fully hereinafter explained.

In construction my invention is as follows: A is thetank or body of themachine, standing on a series of legs, a a. At B is seen the verticalguide and support for the movable journal-bearings b, which receive thejournals 0 of the roller 0, and is kept in position by two verticalround pins, which, entering into corresponding holes in B and cap I),permit part b to move vertically with freedom. The guide-piece b isgiven a continual downward pressure by means of coiled springs bencircling the upper pin above the bearing 1).

The roller 0 is journaled into guide-pieces b, as stated, one of whichjournals terminates in a crank, C. This roller is corrugatedlongitudinally, as shown in the drawings, around its entire periphery.

D D are smaller rollers, which are journaled into the oscillating leversd, which, in turn, are pivoted at d into spring-bars E, which aresupported on projecting posts 6 e, situated in the four corners of thebody of the machine, where they occupy no essential space.

The rollers D D are given a series of fiat tongues and grooves turnedconcentrically and reaching from end to end; but the tongues aresomewhat wider than the grooves, and so arranged that the tongue of oneroller is placed just opposite to the groove of the other. An

endless belt, F, of a few inches in width, en-

circles rollers D D, which facilitates the clothes being started throughinthe first part of the work.

It will be noticed that the belt F encircles a rib on one roller andlies in the opposite groove in the other roller, so that the rollerswill revolve at somewhat different speeds, so as to rub the clothes andmore thoroughly clean them.

In operation my invention is as follows: Water of the proper temperatureand other conditions necessary to washing is placed in the tank. Agarment which has been previously soaped is then started inbetweenrollers C above and rollers D D below, motion being given by means ofthe crank C, which motion is transferred to the lower rollers, D D, bycontact derived by springs b and E pressing the upper and lower seriesof rollers together. As the garment is rolled nearly through, the motionof crank C is reversed, which moves the clothes back again, and so on.

The operator can wash any portion of the garment more than others bymaking short reciprocating strokes of the handle at the points desired,thus greatly economizin g the expenditure of labor.

In this operation it will be observed that the lower rollers are partlyimmersed in water, thus always keeping the clothes well supplied withsuds. The corrugations of the upper roller coming in contact with thetongues of the lower ones, one crossing the other, the clot-hes receivein every part very active and forcible compressions, which expand againby capillary attraction on being released, are again compressed, thenexpanded, &c.

An important assistant to the washing of the clothes is found in theconstant and violent shaking of the garments in the water, produced bythe action of the corrugated roller on the two lower rollers. Thepeculiar self-adjusting qualities of the lower rollers with each otherbecomes apparent by examining Fig. 4. The arrow shows the direction inwhich a garment is started. The clothes being so folded that a greatnumber of thicknesses occur at one point, this will depress roller D toa point, a2, and also depress spring-bar E to a. This action may occurat both ends of roller 1) or only at one end, as the case may be. Whenthe enlarged part of the garment moves to roller D it is depressed also,as was roller D, motion being derived by the pivot d, as shown. Thus therollers hug closely any garment, no matter how irregularly it may havebeen folded. These advantages are considered of utmost importance, andare embodied in a machine convenient in form, simple in. construction,and easily operated and understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a washing-machine, the combination, with the upper spring-pressedroller, 0, of the two lower rollers, D D, constructed with alternateflat ribs and grooves, the ribs of one roller being opposite the groovesof the other roller, and the endless belt F, encircling a rib of oneroller and a groove of the other roller, so that the rollers will havediflerent speeds of revolution, substantially as described and shown.

2. A washing machine wherein are combined the tank A, the spring-bars Ein such tank, thelower rollers, D D, journaled inlevers d, pivoted tothe said spring-bars, such rollers having alternate ribs and grooves,the belt F, encircling a rib of one roller and a groove of the otherroller, and the upper. spring-pressed roller, 0, constructed andarranged substantially as described and shown.

JAMES H. CRAIG.

Witnesses:

T. VAN KANNEL, WALTER MOSER.

